A Story Told
by Mike9
Summary: We are all the heroes of our own stories, the person with the necessary vision, drive and will to make the world a better place. To make the world just. Salem is no different, she has her reasons. A retelling of 6.3


**To Whom it may concern: ****This is in Australian English so please don't get too upset with me for perceived spelling mistakes. In addition RWBY and associated characters are property of Rooster Teeth while the ideas contained within are my own.**

**Authors Note: This is a retelling of Season 6 episode 3. I liked the idea, but found the execution lacking.**

**Onward, and enjoy.**

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A beaten and bloodied woman was unceremoniously dragged across a cobbled stone floor, each bump and nick tearing new holes into her clothing and body. Through dimly lit corridors her long dark matted hair painting streaks of blood to be lapped up by the sinister creatures that lurked in shadows. Rooms and corridors blurred together till the party opened a set of ancient wooden doors, with a bow the attendants dropped the woman upon the cold slab, an offering to their master.

The pale woman smiled wickedly at the offering, her sharp features accented by her body hugging black and red dress. Black eyes surveyed her prey with blood red iris alight with malice joy. She was the wicked witch mothers told stories of to scare their children into eating their vegetables and into going to bed on time. A concentrated pool of evil that sought to spread her control across the world. With a simple gesture the offering was lifted off the floor by black hands that grew from pools of pitch and placed in a chair. Slowly the wounds would heal in time, a trivial matter for someone gifted with aura, but the delivery had been harsh on the womans clothing. Outside in the halls others would deal with the mess her prey had left, but in her presence these matters would be attended to for her sensibilities.

Though beaten and bloodied the young woman eventually roused, her eyes swollen but sharp darting across the hall. The instincts of a fighter mixed with fear, eyes widening when she spotted the woman of black and white. A long table separated them, a meeting room that looked out through great panels of glass into the red sky of her world.

With a gentle smile Salem casually brushed aside the rogue strand of her white hair, tucking the lock behind her ear as she allowed her guest to settle down. "I am glad to see you're awake. You gave my men quiet a lot of trouble and they roughed you up quite badly." Salem warmly greeted as her guest searched for her weapon, eyes locked for a moment on the sheathed sword that lay on the table before Salem.

"Why am I here?" Raven coughed, she could have been killed a dozen times over but no, they decided to bring her to face the witch herself. Perhaps the creature across the table wanted to kill her personally, she had caused a lot of trouble for whatever the creature was planning.

"There is no need for such hostility." Salem replied, offended by the enmity the woman displayed towards her. "But I understand if Ozma has spoken ill of me. I am Salem, may I know the name of the huntress who bested so many of my warriors."

A polite woman who looked remarkably small at the head of such a large table was not what she had expected. She looked small, almost fragile as she held her hands together, reserved and diminished by the grandeur around her. "Raven." The black haired huntress answered, humouring her warden might keep her alive for long enough for her wounds to heal sufficiently to escape. Leaning into the high backed chairs Raven could feel the blood that had soaked into her hair, it would take forever to clean. If she survived.

"Raven. You kids have such strange names these days." Salem said waving off the guards. "Get us something to drink, and a change of clothes for my guest. You did quite a number on her after all." She said proudly but with command that had to be obeyed.

The creature before her gave a friendly smile, it was the kind of welcoming smile Raven expected form Summer or Tai, not from the creature that was trying to bring about the end of all life on Remnant. As she sat trying to understand the game the witch was playing a clean robe was placed on the table along with a wine glass. The man who Raven had been desperately trying to kill, a formidable fighter in his own right now acted as the faithful butler. Placing a wine glass before the witch, presenting the bottle and upon receiving the witches approval he poured a glass for the creature before he returned to Raven to fill her glass. He left without another word, leaving the bottle on a side table.

Raven sat defiantly quiet, the wine a temptation that her exhaustion demanded, water would have been preferable but any fluids were needed. But it would dull her judgement. And while her clothes were a mess, they still clung together, the robe probably embedded with a means to track her when she made her escape. "You are a gracious host, but you wouldn't keep me alive for no reason." Raven said softly, she hoped the creature wouldn't lash out as she pushed the glass and clothes aside.

Salem took the refusal of her hospitality with a slight frown, but lit up moments later. "You are quite astute. I wish to know why Ozpin is trying to kill me once again." Salem asked, her empty smile turning to concern as she rolled the wine glass in her fingers.

"You're trying to destroy all life in Remnant." Raven accused, the creature before her was hurt by the charge. Salem taking a long sip of the wine as she recovered from the attack.

"So that is what he has been telling everyone." Salem said quietly, the accusation hurt. "That bastard." Downing the rest of the wine with a single gulp. "That lying, thieving bastard." Salem bellowed in a roar as her nails dug into the stone table. The empty wine glass sent flying, the crash emphasising her hanger as fragments of glass scattered across the dark stone floor.

Black hands grew from the floor, a fresh glass and wine bottle brought to the table pouring a fresh glass for the witch. "Did he also tell you that he killed our daughters. That he betrayed me when I needed him the most. That he has died a thousand times and been reborn to me a thousand more. Each time corrupted by those malicious bastards who destroyed the moon and rained destruction upon Remnant." Salem cried out, a back hand sending one of the heavy chairs flying in her rage.

Raven cowered at the violent display, the witches rage and suffering on full display as she vented before calm overtook Salem. All the hunters who were in Ozpins favour knew he had knowledge far surpassing his years. But the man was frugal with that information and kept so much of it beyond even his inner circle. "I see he even lies to those he trusts." Salem spat as she read the answer of Raven's face.

"So, Raven. What does Ozpin say about me?" Salem asked, her voice a distant calm as awaited her guests answer.

The creature before Raven reminisced in wine, an opportunity to build trust, to get the creature to lower its guard. If Salem wanted stories from the outside world then who was Raven to refuse. Taking up the glass to humour her warden Raven took a cautious sip and searched her memories, it didn't seem to be drugged. A glance at the bottle the wine, no brandy, it was old, beautiful and very strong, a dangerous thing to pour out like wine. How deceptive Raven thought while trying to put together what she had learned about Salem from Ozpin.

Raven struggled to sort her thoughts under the pressure of the creature before her watching with eyes of pitch. There was so little to say, the power that Salem possessed, some force of nature that allowed her to control the grimm. That she was behind so many of Remnants problems that she had to be dealt with. That the creature before her was a concentration of evil that had haunted humanity at every step of its defiant grasp for survival in a hostile world. What did they know about Salem, little more than a face, and the threat that lay behind those eyes.

The creature called Salem listened and occasionally laughed at the accusations. That Ozpin thought so little of her picked at scars she had thought were long closed. Salem drank, offered wine and food that Raven peacefully turned down and listened intently to the short story that Raven could tell.

As she finished Salem looked at Raven with disappointment etched across her pale face. She had hoped for more, to know that Ozpin still remember the past they shared together. Perhaps someone else should be trusted with that story. Someone who could tell the world of Ozpins lies.

"I guess someone has to know the truth." Salem said with downcast eyes reflecting in her wine. Standing up Salem quietly sat next to Raven, the ethereal black hands picking up the displaced chair and moving the platter to sit between them. "Long ago, long before the moon was shattered I was a prisoner, locked away by my cruel father in a tower until a brave warrior came and set me free." Salem recalled.

"For the first time in my life I was free. Do you know what that is like? To taste freedom that has been denied to you for your entire life. It was bliss. My darling Ozma had rescued me from that prison and stole my heart." Salem said lost in a happy memory. "Too bad the gods could not accept my happiness. My beloved, struck down and taken from me. I was heartbroken."

"Back then, two petulant gods ruled our world. They squabbled like spoiled children, trivialising the suffering of mankind. I begged them to reunite me with my beloved, to grant me the chance at happiness I had been denied my whole life. They rejected me, mocked my pain and sought to curse me." Salem cursed. "They conspired to keep us eternally apart. Denying me everything, even death. Just to see me suffer. How fitting it is to turn such a curse against them. To use the curse to raise the nations of the world against those heartless tyrants."

Salem went quiet for a moment as she reflected on the past. "I united the world to turn against those tyrants. I used their curse to unify the people of the world against the injustice of their rule. And for our defiance they slaughtered everyone." For a while Salem was silent. "Because we would no longer bow to their destructive childish whims they killed every man woman and child on Remnant and left me alone on this desolate world. Destroying the moon as they left, one last insult to scar the world."

"Over countless eons humanity was reborn, and I was changed. No longer was humanity gifted with magic, the faunus born from the chaos. And dust was all that remained of the world destroyed by the tyrants." Salems words sombre in their reflection. "In time I was cast out from the new world, and the world grew dark. The Grimm plagued humanity, but they were of no consequence to this one who had lost everything. And in time my Ozma was returned to me. A new body, yet his soul was the same. I found happiness once more."

"But joy would be denied to me once more. Together we brought peace to the lands, together we brought prosperity to our people. We drove the grim from the cities under our protection so that everyone could be free to live lives of peace and happiness. Together we raised a family only for the tyrants to show the venom of their hatred once more. Poisoning my Ozmas mind with an impossible task. Threatening the lives of humanity that had clawed itself back from extinction to be judged by those heartless tyrants once more." Salem cursed the idea. "When has humanity ever had a happily ever after. Life is nothing by a struggle against the impossible and to burden my Ozma with such a crushing task. Knowing it would turn him against me. It destroyed him inch by inch. That burden turning him against me, against our people. Against our family. My daughters died that night."

"You wonder why the grimm attack humanity. There is a darkness in our soul, one that can never be overcome. One that is left there to condemn us all should they come back. I will not allow it. Those monsters will never be called back. Never will they be given the opportunity to slaughter our people once more."

"This burden my Ozma carries. It is killing him. Every cycle of death and rebirth he dies a little more. I fear the day he will kill everyone himself. He has already sent so many children to their deaths. So many young children who had their lives to look forward too." Salem said sympathetically, gently holding Ravens hand. The wounds and scars that marred the young woman healing, her skin renewed by the witches touch.

* * *

"How did you escape?" Ozpin asked Raven as she stood before his desk. She was defiant, more defiant then she had ever been as a student. Her glare was cold as Raven stood over the desk scanning for any sign of weakness.

"We talked." Raven said dangerously. "About may things, about the Grimm. About the past. About Ozma." The last word drawing the man's attention to a point, the wisdom of eons sharp in Ozpins eyes as Raven continued. "I found an opening and grabbed my weapon. She let me grab my weapon. And I embed a blade right between her eyes. As Salem pulled that blade free I fled with what little strength I had left."

It was clear they were both on edge. The past was something Ozpin had never expected Salem to open up to anyone about. And meeting Salem was enough to make even the strongest hunters nervous. "So, how much is true? How much of the witches story is true Ozma?" Raven demanded as her fists slammed into the table.

In her own twisted way Salem had been right. The burden was something Ozpin did not know how to carry. Lifetimes of trying to forget, trying to come up with a plan. How long had it been since he returned to the world. Raven was watching him, scrutinizing his every move. As Ozpin looked up Raven turned aside, his eyes all she needed to see.

"Just unite the relics and bring them to deal with her." Raven stated with her back turned. "It wouldn't take more than a couple of days with all the fleets at our disposal."

"You don't understand." Ozpin started. Salem hadn't mentioned the price of uniting the relics. Mankind would be judged, and with so much war, and hatred, and bigotry. Ozpin doubted they could pass the test. "We're not ready yet."

"Then when?" Raven roared. Her face a twisted snarl as she looked down on Ozpin. "When will enough blood be shed for humanity to be pure? When will enough sacrifices be made? Do you want my soul as well, my brother? My daughter? How may hunters need to be sacrificed in this war? Do we need to kill all the faunus to eliminate that problem. How about the burden of the elderly? Let's send hunters into the cities to kill all the criminals and undesirables. When will it be enough to make us pure?" Raven roared.

As Ozpin backed away from each accusation and shut down Raven became quiet. The deathly silence burning the fragile trust between master and student. Before Ozpin could say something Raven quietly spoke. "How many families have you walked away from, how many lifetimes spent abandoning the world? How many men and women have you sacrificed to keep yourself safe in your tower? The most powerful man in Remnant, is nothing but a coward."

"That's not true." Ozpin weakly defended. His mind racing, the situation was not beyond salvage but he needed a moment to think. A chance to find the right words.

"You're afraid of Salem." Raven cursed. "You have everything you need to destroy her and you dither in this tower." Turning her back and walking towards the doors. Raven paused for a moment, keeping her long hair as a wall between them. "You have a plan to stop her?" Raven asked quietly. Listening carefully to hear the words reach the headmaster.

For a minute they both were silent, Raven a statue waiting for an answer that was never going to reach her. They had nothing else to say to one another. No words of reassurance or hollow promises. As Ozpin stared to his cup of tea for guidance Raven walked to the doors and never turned back.

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**Thanks for making it this far. Please review if you enjoyed or have any thoughts you would like to share.**

**And now, a Rant.**

_This is a part of a total rewrite I was working on from season 4 onward towards a conclusion. The idea of this story came to me first, that this episode would have worked better if the story was told from Salems perspective, giving an insight into her thoughts. It then spiralled out of my control, with outlines on how it would get to this point, changes required to the storyline, fixes I would want for the whole thing. how I would work from here, character motivations, character changes. The usual._

_Unfortunately after 20,000 plus words of outline and a few chapter sections fleshed out I realised I really wasn't going to ever bring this to a conclusion and decided that at least this section was worth releasing. It doesn't help that I prefer setting up structures rather then filling them out. So if anyone is interested in the framework I built and wants a copy let me know. You would be free to use it here or wherever if you are interested, usual non commercial agreement. _


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